Settling in and Orientation

Our first in West Hartford consisted of unloading the MoveX truck that shipped our belongings to CT with the assistance of three of my fellow EM interns. we got very sweaty but finished the job before lunch. Becky and I bought two of them lunch, had a couple beers, then started the huge job of unpacking and settling in.

I will admit that there were many more hassles and obstacles than I anticipated. The blinds were removed, the humidity was stifling even at 75 degrees. The refrigerator was broken. And Becky's Monday morning interview went well, but only resulted in a second and third interview with no decision in sight.

On the plus side, the area is great and our house's location is perfect. We purchased new appliances at Sears around the corner, purchased groceries at Trader Joe's next door to it, played with the dogs at Wolcott Park a short walk away and started back into swimming at the Cornerstone Aquatics center 3-4 miles away. The packing certainly filled in my three days before orientation started. And the nights were spent buying supplies and putting together Sauder style furniture.

I was exhausted and a little down when we started orientation on Wednesday the 18th. However, my fellow interns turned out to be terrific. We've gone out for lunch, a beer or a dinner with spouses almost every day. I have had a great time bonding with the other eleven physicians in my class and look forward to growing into Emergency Physicians with them.

Orientation itself has been ok. I guess I shouldn't expect too much from the logistics of getting into four hospitals. I now have computer training, privileges and IDs for Hartford Hospital, CT Children's Med Ctr, St. Francis and UConn's John Dempsey Hospital. Moreover, I now have my ATLS and ACLS certifications completed. I was a little stressed about preparing for them and the written and oral exams at the end, but ATLS, especially, reminded me of how much I've learned thus far.

The worst day by far was today, our last day. We had to prepare for St. Francis's computer training with 6-7 hours of online lessons and quizzes. Then we spent another two hours onsite ( and paying $4 for the privilege) to go through a workbook of the same stuff overseen by an incompetent administrator that had no idea what we were doing. It was very frustrating. Children's in the afternoon was better, but more than a little boring.

Lat night Becky and I attended the PGY-3's graduation banquet. My class got a chance to know the outgoing seniors and see what they've done throughout residency. It was fun to see the awards that nurses, faculty and classmates handed out to them and the reasoing behind it. The kids also started a Lacross camp two days and are loving it. Becky said she's never seen them so sweaty. While it's very humid, the weather is still great for working out and playing outside this summer.

Now I have three days until I start seeing patients at John Dempsey Hospital at UConn. Three day to relax and get back into the student mindset. It's exciting and stressful. I'm going to have to wear business casual clothes with my new long white coats for the first few weeks until my embroidered scrubs arrive. It will be nice to be called doctor, but scary to look like an attending with one one hundreth their kowledge.